Disc Displacement of the Temporomandibular Joint and Facial Asymmetry in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Subjects with facial skeletal asymmetries have a higher incidence of anterior temporomandibular joint disc displacement. The objective of the study was to consolidate existing evidence on the connection between temporomandibular joint disc displacement and mandibular asymmetry in youngsters and adolescents. A thorough examination was undertaken in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane. To judge the publications’ methodological quality Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used. From the 1011 identified records, eight were selected for the qualitative synthesis and five for the quantitative synthesis, amounting to 692 subjects. Fifteen cephalometric variables were meta-analyzed. The distance from menton (Me) to midline (lateral mandibular asymmetry) was significantly shorter [−1.75 (95% CI −2.43–−1.07), p ≤ 0.001] in subjects with disc displacement compared to those without disc displacement. The distance from articulare (Ar) to gonion (Go) was significantly longer [3.74 (95% CI 1.04–6.44), p = 0.007] in subjects with disc displacement compared to those without disc displacement. The relationship between distance from articulare (Ar) to gonion (Go) or sella (S) to gonion (Go) and disc displacement was shown to be close to statistical significance level, but not for other cephalometric data. Disc displacement was associated with several cephalometric measurement variations in children and adolescents.